NEW DELHI – India is close to the groundwater depletion tipping point that could lead to a major ecological disaster, according to a United Nations report.
The Interconnected Disaster Risks report 2023 published by the United Nations University-Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) on Wednesday warned that humanity is fast approaching risk tipping points on many fronts.
The six tipping points it highlighted include groundwater depletion, melting of mountain glaciers and space debris.
Some countries, including Saudi Arabia, have already surpassed the groundwater risk tipping point and India is not far from it, the report warned.
It noted that Saudi Arabia was the world’s 6th-largest wheat exporter in the mid-1990s based on large-scale groundwater extraction for irrigation, but wells ran dry and it had to turn to wheat imports.
Now India and other countries are “nearing this risk tipping point”, with far-reaching consequences for global food systems and the environment, according to the report.
“As we indiscriminately extract our water resources, damage nature and biodiversity, and pollute both Earth and space, we are moving dangerously close to the brink of multiple risk tipping points that could destroy the very systems that our life depends on,” said Zita Sebesvari, the lead author. – Bernama
